Common joins Allergan campaign against vision loss

Allergan's national vision-loss-prevention campaign, See America, has brought on rapper Common as a celebrity spokesman.

In a spoken word video published on Tuesday, Common describes how vision is a gift and needs to be protected. He also reiterates See America's mission to stop preventable blindness and the fact that 61 million Americans are at risk of vision loss.

The rapper and actor asks viewers to imagine what it would be like to lose their sight and challenges them to "stand in the way of darkness."

"Common often speaks out on issues that disproportionately affect underserved communities, and preventable blindness is one of those issues," said Herm Cukier, SVP of eye care at Allergan. "With this powerful video, he's helping us educate people on the importance of vision care."

Mission supported Allergan's work on the video, as well as the See America campaign in general.

Allergan was looking for a creative way to raise awareness about vision loss with the partnership with Common.

"We felt that Common was a perfect partner for See America due to his artistic ability to connect with Americans from every background, a crucial part of preserving our nation's eyesight," Cukier said.

The pharma company rolled out the video on the See America website and Allergan's Twitter and YouTube accounts on Tuesday. The See America campaign launched in February with the goal of ending preventable blindness by 2030 by raising awareness, increasing access to eyecare, and developing treatments to combat vision loss.

Allergan reported a 7% increase in fourth-quarter 2016 revenue to $3.9 billion, and its net loss narrowed to $70.2 million.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of the article misstated the name of the agency. It is Mission.